A Crash Course in Parenthood
by Q42
Summary: Now happily married, Chi and Hideki are ready for the next step: raising a child of their own. But in a world where persocoms are still treated as machines, will Chi be accepted as a foster mother? And even if she is, are she and Hideki really ready?


A Crash Course in Parenthood

By Q42

Prologue: The Three Most Precious Things

Chi is Chi.

Hideki has been teaching Chi lots of things, though, ever since the day Chi and Hideki met, so now Chi knows that Chi should really say, "I am Chi", or maybe "My name is Chi."

Still, even though Chi knows how other people talk, Chi doesn't _like_ talking that way. For Chi, it feels like putting a mask over a person's name when Chi uses pronouns, like calling Yumi-san "she" or "her" – the same pronouns that Chi would use to take the place of Sumomo's name, or even Mama's! It just seems so … impersonal!

Chi learned that word from Hideki!

Chi knows how, and Hideki has made Chi promise to talk like other people when Chi and Hideki are with strangers, but really, Chi doesn't like using pronouns.

So, Chi is Chi. And it is all because of Hideki. All the things that are most precious to Chi were gifts to Chi from Hideki.

First, Hideki made Chi, Chi. Of course Chi remembers part of the life Chi had before Hideki – Chi loves Chi's mama, and even now that Chi and Hideki have married and moved out of the apartment, Chi still loves taking the bus across town to visit Mama. But it was Hideki who gave Chi Chi's name, helped Chi to talk, to move and live and get a job and be happy when Chi didn't know how to do any of those things.

So, Hideki's first gift to Chi was Chi.

Hideki's second gift was Hideki.

Mama made Chi different from other persocoms. Mama made Chi so that Chi could feel like other people, even fall in love. But when Chi woke up in Hideki's apartment that first night, Chi didn't remember any of that; Chi didn't even know what love was. But Hideki taught Chi so many things – how to smile, how to laugh, and finally, the night that Chi finally realized what the feelings in Chi's heart were and told Hideki ….

Chi was so scared, so unsure. Chi realized that night that, even if Hideki felt the same way, Chi and Hideki would always be different, that there would always be things that Chi could never, ever do. Chi panicked, Chi hid, Chi nearly curled up inside and _died_….

But then, somehow, Chi heard Hideki. And when all the light was over, Chi was in Hideki's arms, and even when Chi said what was so scary to Chi, Hideki just said, "I know, Chi."

"I want to be together with you, too."

For Chi, it was that night on the roof that changed everything. Even when Chi and Hideki were married, it was really just repeating the things Chi and Hideki had said that night. Chi loved Hideki, and Hideki loved Chi, and we wanted to be together forever.

We. Us. Our. Ours. Maybe some pronouns aren't so bad, after all….

Ever since then, Chi has learned how to do a lot of the things that human girls do. Mama has helped Chi a lot – Chi looks the same age as Hideki now, and Mama gave Chi a digestive system and a new tongue so that Chi can eat and taste food and get energy like humans do, and even took out Chi's old reset switch and gave Chi the parts so that Chi and Hideki --

Sorry. Hideki made Chi promise not to talk about that with anyone but Hideki and Mama.

Still, even with all those things Chi can do, Chi knows that Chi will never carry Hideki's baby in Chi's tummy like human mamas do. For Chi and Hideki to have a baby of our own, the baby would need to come from someplace else.

So, Hideki and Chi decided, even before we were married, that we would adopt a child. Chi has always felt sad thinking about it, but some parents can't afford to take care of their children, and others are hurt or broken while their children are still young, so they need somebody else to take them in and be their mama and papa.

So, that was what Chi and Hideki decided to do: Chi and Hideki would adopt a baby (Chi always wanted a girl, and Hideki was happy with that idea), raise her as our child, and be the mama and papa that they needed.

Which brings Chi to other most-precious thing Hideki gave to Chi.

Hideki helped give Chi our baby.


End file.
